| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dream Life and Real Life by Olive Schreiner: all their compliments if she would once have smiled at me as she smiled at
them, with all her face breaking into radiance, with her dimples and
flashing teeth. But I knew it never could be; I felt sure she hated me;
that she wished I was dead; that she wished I had never come to the
village. She did not know, when we went out riding, and a man who had
always ridden beside her came to ride beside me, that I sent him away; that
once when a man thought to win my favour by ridiculing her slow drawl
before me I turned on him so fiercely that he never dared come before me
again. I knew she knew that at the hotel men had made a bet as to which
was the prettier, she or I, and had asked each man who came in, and that
the one who had staked on me won. I hated them for it, but I would not let
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: of reform have been presented to us. If we allowed this to go on,
none of us would know to what pass matters would come. Hence,
unless we hasten to put our present wishes clearly before all, we
greatly fear that the petty yamen officials and their underlings
will put their own construction on what commands have gone
before, and create a ferment in the midst of the usual calm of
the people. This will indeed be contrary to our desire, and put
our reforms for strengthening and enriching our empire to naught.
"We therefore hereby command that the Supervisorate of
Instruction and other five minor Courts and Boards, which were
recently abolished by us and their duties amalgamated with other
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: conquered the Medes, even if Cyrus had never lived, is to say, as
too many philosophers seem to me to say, that, given cannon, powder,
and shot, it will fire itself off some day if we only leave it alone
long enough.
It may be so. But our usual experience of Nature and Fact is, that
spontaneous combustion is a rare and exceptional phenomenon; that if
a cannon is to be fired, someone must arise and pull the trigger.
And I believe that in Society and Politics, when a great event is
ready to be done, someone must come and do it--do it, perhaps, half
unwittingly, by some single rash act--like that first fatal shot
fired by an electric spark.
|
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The White Moll by Frank L. Packard: "I told you I'd been busy. That's enough! You'll see
Rhoda Gray, in the semi-darkness, shrugged her shoulders. Was the
man, prompted by rage and fury, simply making wild threats, or had
he at last some definite and perhaps infallible plan that he
purposed putting into operation? She did not know; and, much as it
meant to her, she did not dare take the risk of arousing suspicion
by pressing the question. Failing, then, to obtain any intimation
of what he meant to do, the next thing most to be desired was to
get rid of him.
"You've got the money. That's what you came for, wasn't it?" she
suggested coldly.
|
